5 Frequently Overlooked Leadership Development Principles
As soon as I entered the building, I knew immediately that I had made a mistake. The sound coming from the room in the school where our church meets was not pleasant. The guest worship leader that I had invited, the one interested in our part-time worship leader position, did not have (in my estimation) a serviceable voice to lead! The look I saw on the helpless two other band members dutifully supporting him during practice confirmed this. We were just minutes away from the start of our Sunday Gathering. I was seriously distraught. What should I do?
What you would do in this situation likely reveals what you believe about developing leaders. What I’ve learned comes from 30 years of leading in church contexts and three primary sources: applying the gospel to my own heart, working with excellent leaders, and making lots of mistakes. With this in mind, here are five principles to consider when developing leaders that might not always appear in leadership books and conferences.
Apply the gospel to yourself
Leading is all about growing in our identity in Christ all the time. I was mad at myself for failing to vet that worship leader better. But in that moment, I needed to apply the gospel to my heart before rushing into a decision. Was my image of being a good leader more important to me than actually being a good leader? Would I allow how I felt about myself in that moment to govern what I did? If you learn to apply the gospel to your own heart, you will see that leading others is primarily about helping them do the same.
Identify leaders by building leadership
One of our greatest temptations as ministry leaders is to plug holes with leaders instead of building leadership in people. How do you build leadership? Create avenues of leadership that allow inexperienced people to lead. For example, instead of rushing to make someone a Community Group leader, allow them to lead the group meeting once or twice and see how they do. Sunday Services, leadership meetings, ministry outreaches, small groups, retreats, prayer meetings, etc. are all good playgrounds where you can create space for people to grow as leaders without rushing to make people official leaders.
Giving people real leadership opportunities and allowing them to “fail” will test your theology and your faith. It’s uncomfortable at times. But you’ll be able to create an environment where you can more easily identify potential leaders.
Coach leaders
Once you have leaders, coach them! It doesn’t matter how gifted a leader is, everyone needs coaching. Plan to connect with your leaders regularly. With some leaders that might be weekly, with others once a quarter. But you should have an agenda: to help them become better leaders as they apply the gospel to their heart.
Use a written coaching tool with every leader you are developing. This might seem impersonal to you, and maybe even unnecessary for some roles, but do it anyway. This honors whatever role or responsibility they have in leadership. For example, create a one-page document together that includes the purpose of their role, the main responsibilities they are focusing on, one area of personal development, and maybe one area of “professional” development that relates to their role. Every time you talk, use the doc. Ask them how they are doing, pray with them, and help them stay on track and get unstuck if necessary.
Create a leadership culture rich in feedback
I honestly think that creating a feedback-rich culture will do more for developing your leaders and maturing your congregation than anything else you can do! Create formal and informal ways to assess your leaders including yourself. The informal stuff should be done regularly as you build leadership (see above). On the formal side, once a year, use a tool like a survey to give each other feedback. Do this in the middle of your ministry year to allow leaders to apply what they learn from their feedback. Create around ten questions that would take respondents 15 minutes or so to complete. Include both objective (scale 1-5) and subjective (comments) elements that relate specifically to a person’s role and some general ones related to their character. Send the survey to the five people with whom each person works the closest.
At first, this will seem incredibly uncomfortable, but over time the feedback gets better and better as we model humility and teachability to those we lead. We learn together that our identities are not in our performance, but in our Savior. Yet at the same time, we seek to be excellent in our roles for his glory.
Use everyday ministry to develop leaders
What did we do with this guest worship leader? We could have gotten caught up solely in the pressing decision of the moment – to let him lead or not lead worship. But here is how we applied some of the above principles to our situation.
I didn’t blame him. I was the one who hired him!
I pulled aside our pastoral resident on guitar that day to seek his input. He suggested we let him lead to avoid an upsetting and distracting moment for him and for us. That sounded wise to me and we survived the worship set without much incident.
I apologized to the other worship team member who was put in the awkward situation of trying to harmonize with him.
We gave this young man our loving and grace-filled feedback and suggested that he pursue a different ministry path.
That last statement might sound harsh! Did we really suggest that? Yes. This young man loves Jesus and has talent and passion for ministry. He deserved our love and respect in the form of grace and truth. He responded in a godly manner by thanking us for our honest feedback. This made me wonder if anyone up to this point had loved him in this way. For those few moments we had with him, I believe we helped him take the next step of faith. But in doing so, I know God helped us become better leaders. Because we are committed to developing leaders, and that begins with us.
Are you interested in having more conversations like this with a ministry coach? Let’s talk.
Am I Burning Out?
Why We Experience Stress and Burnout
Stress and burnout often feel like sudden, overwhelming forces—but the truth is, they usually follow a simple pattern over time. Understanding this pattern can help us prevent it and thrive, even under increasing responsibilities.
Early Life: Minimal Responsibilities
When we’re young, life tends to be relatively simple. Many of us are in school or starting our first job. We might not have a spouse, a mortgage, or a highly demanding career. Our health is generally good, and the people around us aren’t relying heavily on our leadership or support.
During this stage, our personal infrastructure—our physical, spiritual, financial, and relational resources—is usually enough to handle the demands we face. There’s time to spend with friends, maintain an active lifestyle, and enjoy quiet moments for spiritual reflection. Life feels manageable, and challenges, though real, are relatively small.
Increasing Responsibilities Over Time
As we move into midlife, responsibilities begin to accumulate. We may take on a spouse, children, a mortgage, leadership roles, broken relationships, health challenges, and other critical obligations. Suddenly, more people are depending on us, and the stakes feel higher.
The habits that once sustained us—like a 15-minute quiet time or weekly social activities—often aren’t enough to navigate the growing pressures. Support systems that worked at 20 may no longer suffice at 35, 45, or 50. Even though our income or professional status may have increased, the weight of responsibility often grows faster than our capacity to handle it.
The Personal Infrastructure Gap
This mismatch creates what I call a personal infrastructure gap: the difference between the responsibilities you carry and the strength of the structures you’ve built to support yourself.
Strong infrastructure allows you to handle more responsibility with clarity, calm, and focus.
Weak or underdeveloped infrastructure means even small challenges can feel overwhelming, leading to stress, breakdown, and eventually burnout.
When the gap widens, life can feel chaotic, no matter how much you are achieving externally.
Key Takeaway
The solution isn’t necessarily to shrink responsibilities, though most people take on too many—it’s to develop your personal infrastructures. Strengthening your physical, spiritual, relational, and financial foundations allows you to thrive under increasing demands. Without this intentional growth, the gap between your responsibilities and your resources only grows, making burnout almost inevitable.
How is your personal infrastructure holding up? Take a self assessment here. Want to talk about it and get some possible solutions? Schedule a free consultation here.
When should you say something?
It all begins with an idea.
Yesterday, I sat with a group of pastors as we shared how each of us had wrestled with whether to speak—or remain silent—about last week’s jarring events: the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the brutal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee on a train, and the shooting of two high school students in Colorado. The question hung in the air: How do we decide whether to say something—or not?
As pastors, we’re criticized for speaking up, for staying silent, and sometimes even for not speaking quickly enough. As I reflected on this tension, I thought it might be helpful to outline a set of criteria you can use when deciding whether or not to comment on a particular event or issue.
Here are 11 considerations that can guide you in moments like these:
Check your motives. Am I speaking out of fear, pressure, or the need for attention? Or am I compelled by conviction from God’s Word and the Spirit? Am I in the right place spiritually and emotionally to speak with wisdom, humility, and grace? Or am I just blowing off some steam? Will what I communicate be a model for how we want our congregation to love God and others? If not, how might you get there first?
Consider biblical clarity. Does Scripture address this issue directly, or is it more a matter of personal opinion, policy, or interpretation? Be honest about the difference.
Think about your people. What does your particular congregation need right now? You are shepherding real people, not social media followers. If the issue isn’t directly relevant to them, you’ll need a strong reason to address it.
Discern the church’s responsibility. Is this an area where the church has a unique calling (caring for the vulnerable, addressing sin, defending truth), or is it primarily in the realm of politics, economics, or personal freedom where Scripture allows for disagreement? If a brother or a sister in Christ could faithfully hold the opposite of the opinion you present, you might reconsider your approach.
Don’t decide alone. Run these questions through with your elders or leadership team. Processing together with wise people—especially those who see differently than you—leads to better discernment and better decisions.
Remember that silence is still a decision. You won’t get it right every time, but that doesn’t mean you should never speak. Sometimes it’s worth the risk, especially if your congregation already trusts you.
Weigh unity and witness. Will speaking help build biblical unity, or will it divide along cultural or political lines? Will silence look like indifference? How might either response shape your church’s witness in the community?
Ask if you’re the right person. Maybe something needs to be said—but perhaps someone else in your leadership, with more credibility in this area, should be the one to speak.
Be sure of the facts. How well do I understand this situation, and am I willing to dig deeper? Headlines oversimplify. Media outlets often push a good-versus-bad narrative. We should resist being swept into that current without careful investigation.
Consider the body of Christ. Will my words marginalize brothers or sisters in Christ who see things differently? We often live in political or cultural bubbles that feel comfortable to us. Seek out perspectives from Christians who don’t share your lens before you speak.
Keep the gospel central. Will my words clarify the gospel or obscure it? Will they help people see Christ more clearly, or distract from Him? If your perspective sounds like it came straight from Fox News or CNBC, it may be worth asking whether you’ve truly wrestled with the gospel perspective, which is usually far more nuanced.
This doesn’t remove the weight of the decision. But it can help you navigate it with wisdom, humility, and a shepherd’s heart. Are these the type of conversations you’d like to have with a ministry coach? Let’s talk.